


The Mechanic: Rising from the Ashes

by StopTalking777



Series: The Mechanic [1]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Also it’s gayer, Angst, Bisexual Tony Stark, Blood, Canon Compliant, Canonical Character Death, Howard Stark's A+ Parenting, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Iron Man 1, The MCU except tony isn’t a billionaire coz eat the rich, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, but not really, dis shit sad, eat the rich, hmmm how to tag, imma make another one where stucky is canon, violence typical to the movies but more swearing
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-16
Updated: 2020-08-12
Packaged: 2021-03-05 02:41:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 6,772
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25277128
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StopTalking777/pseuds/StopTalking777
Summary: Everyone has heard the name Howard Stark. This is the man who revolutionized the weapons industry, this is the man who made Captain America’s shield, the man who worked with Steve rogers himself, the man who founded S.H.I.E.LD and Stark Industries, the man who tragically passed away in December 1991 in a car crash with his wife Maria, leaving no one but Obadiah Stane to run his company. But this story isn't about him. This story is about an italian-american mechanic with a sharp tongue and a head full of ideas living in the middle of queens. This is a story about a boy who grew up without a father, without a cent to his name but who still became one of the greatest heroes of the 21st century, this is a story about Tony Stark.OrTony Stark isn’t a billionaire, he’s just a mechanic, but he’s still going to find his path in the world.(Eat the rich)
Relationships: Ana Jarvis/Edwin Jarvis, James "Rhodey" Rhodes & Tony Stark, Peggy Carter & Tony Stark, Pepper Potts/Tony Stark, Tony Stark & Ho Yinsen
Series: The Mechanic [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1831267
Comments: 32
Kudos: 45





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This chapter contains some minor character death and like explosions so yeah. I'm very very new to this please don't judge my note skills comments are welcome and appreciated because ~growth~. I'm going to try and update every week enjoy!  
> Disclaimer: Big surprise i dont own the story and characters wow. if i worked for disney i'd make stucky canon and everything would be gay so

Everyone has heard the name Howard Stark. This is the man who revolutionized the weapons industry, this is the man who made Captain America’s shield, the man who worked with Steve Rogers himself, the man who founded S.H.I.E.LD and Stark Industries, the man who tragically passed away in December 1991 in a car crash with his wife Maria, leaving no one but Obadiah Stane to run his company. But this story isn't about him. This story is about an Italian-American mechanic with a sharp tongue and a head full of ideas living in the middle of queens. This is a story about a boy who grew up without a father, without a cent to his name but who still became one of the greatest heroes of the 21st century, this is a story about Tony Stark. 

_~Back in black I hit the sack I've been too long I'm glad to be back~_

The AC/DC blared on in the background of the small mechanics shop in queens.

“Just a little bit closer… gotcha!” muttered Tony his eyes gleaming in anticipation as he slowly pulled the wire in the car battery before promptly getting electrocuted. 

“ _Fanculo_!”

“It would seem you have been electrocuted, sir.” said the mechanical voice of Jarvis, coming from his phone. 

“Yeah no shit Sherlock. You know the original Jarvis would be more helpful than this.” Grumbled the mechanic. Tony had designed JARVIS after Edwin Jarvis, the man who had raised him. After his father (The mighty Howard Stark) had abandoned his secret six year old son Jarvis and his wife Ana had taken him in, Ana had never been able to have children after an accident earlier on, so they had raised Tony as their own. Ana had passed when Tony was 19 of cancer, Jarvis had died a mere 4 months later, Tony says it was of a broken heart, the doctors said it was a heart attack. In his honour, Tony had programmed JARVIS (Just A Rather Very Intelligent System) an AI with the same british accent, the same compassion and a bit too much sarcasm for Tony’s taste (that was probably his fault he had to admit, he wasn’t the best influence). 

“Hey J, pass me the twisty thing?” he called out

“You mean the wrench, sir?” asked the AI dryly. 

“Yeah! The twisty shit, pass it over.”

“I am afraid I cannot do that, sir.”

“Why the fuck not?” asked the young(ish) genius.

“Because I don’t have hands, sir.”

Tony gave out an aggravated grunt and got up to reach for the wrench. Before he could do anything however, three men entered the premises. Their hair was slicked back and they all wore black suits and sunglasses, the Stark Industry logo visible on their lapels. Tony groaned, _great, just what I need_. 

“Mr.Stark.” said the first man in a no nonsense tone, making Tony jump up and drop the wires and wrench causing a small explosion which resulted in his sleeve catching fire.

“If it isn't good old Obie’s Henchmen,” he said dryly after putting out his sleeve, “To what do I owe the pleasure?”

“Mr. Stane requests your presence in his office this afternoon.” said the second man testily.

“And what if I don't want to?”

“Oh I'm sorry,” responded the first man completely unapologetic, “Did we say request? It's more of an order.”

“Ah, I see. Well, if the great obadiah stane insists!” said the mechanic while wiping his greased hands on his pants.

“He does.” responded to the first man while the three men roughly grabbed Tony by the elbows and led him to the car waiting outside.

“Hey now fellas don't get handsy! Take me on a few more dates and we’ll see how it goes!” Said Tony his voice dripping with sarcasm as the men pushed him roughly into the back seat and drove away.

_~Yes, I'm let loose From the noose That's kept me hanging about~_

“You could’ve at least given me a decent pair of pants before we came here!” grumbled Tony.

“We assumed you didn’t own a decent pair of pants.” Said the man to his right.

“Hey I take offense to that remark!” he cried before being led into the large office of Obadiah Stane.

“Tony my boy!” Shouted Obadiah a large fake smile plastered on his face.

“Cut to the chase Obie, I know you didn't invite me here for tea.”

Obadiah gave a hearty laugh, “You know me well boy! I did in fact have somewhat of an ulterior motive for inviting you here.”

“Inviting is a funny way to put it.” Commented Tony dryly.

“Tut tut Anthony, you are my guest here! Please hear me out.”

“Go ahead then.” Tony resigned himself and took a seat across from Stane.

“Boy I know you decided never to reclame Stark industries-”

“Not that good old dad would've made it possible…”

“And I’m very grateful for that! You've allowed me to make this business prosper! But I need your help.” said the old man.

“I don't want any part in my father's business Obie, my father didn’t ever do me any good.”

“Tony! I know your father and you didn't have a great relationship-”

“Ha! You could say that.” mumbled Tony.

“But your father was a great man, he made me the man I am today, he's still the man who raised you!”

“I was raised by Ana and Edwin Jarvis.” Snarled Tony, “‘The great Howard Stark’ gave me up when i was six because he couldn’t handle a kid and left me with nothing, he didn't give a damn about me and I don't give a damn about him.”

“Look, Tony, your father wasn’t the best man but he was smart, and you're smart too! Smarter even! You attended MIT-”

“On a scholarship! I never needed my father's money and I don't need it now.”

“Please Tony, you may not need us, but we need you. The scientists here are good, great even, but you Tony, _you could change the world._ Don't you want people to know your name? For people to know who your father really was?”

“ _I don't want anything to do with my father_. Next Tuesday Im going to get on a plane to Afghanistan where all im gonna think about is helping those poor fucking kids, getting drunk and doing stupid shit with Rhodey and you aren’t going to bother me about this anymore.” And then without another word, he left.

_~I've been looking at the sky 'Cause it's gettin' me high~_

He arrived in Kabul at 5:30 pm, a perfect time for a glass of scotch. The humanitarian project had been organized by his best friend James Rhodes who he’d met at MIT. 

“Tones! You’re here!” Greeted the slightly older man at the sight of his friend.

“Yeah it was only a 14 hour plane ride.”

“And you’re _only_ 2 hours late.”

“Yeah I uh… may have missed my flight.” Said Tony sheepishly.

“I’ll get over it, come on we’ve got some betterment of the human race to do.”

“It can’t wait until after happy hour?”

“Fuck off man, we’ve got work to do.” 

Tony approached the vehicle, 

“What’s with the extra security?” He asked looking at the armed military men inside. 

“We need military protection if we're gonna be jetting around Afghanistan, you know because of the _war_?” Said Rhodey sarcastically.

“And you couldn’t have chosen a better time for a holiday!”

“This isn’t a holiday Tones, now get in the car.” Said Rhodes, exasperated as he made to go in with him.

“I'm sorry, this is the "fun-vee." The "hum-drum-vee" is back there.” Said Tony gesturing to the vehicle behind them, “you can join us when it’s happy hour.”

The ride was quite silent, the armed men and women sat in silence and the few other volunteers didn’t seem to be very talkative, Tony fidgeted a bit, maybe he should’ve ridden with Rhodey after all.

“I feel like you're driving me to a court-martial. This is crazy. What did I do? I feel like you're going to pull over and snuff me. What, you're not allowed to talk? Hey, Forrest!” Joked Tony waving his hand in the face of the soldier in the corner, Jimmy he thought his name was, who’d been giving him strange looks the whole time. Suddenly the soldier spoke up.

“I uh… I’m Jimmy! Sir! Is it true that your Anthony Stark?” Said the young man eagerly. Tony was confused, no one knew he was Howard Stark's son, at least not normal people like Jimmy here, had they met before? 

“I’m sorry do I know you?”

“Sir, you’re a legend! I went to MIT, I’ve seen pictures of you everywhere you graduated top of the class and still had time for all those parties, man you’re awesome!” Raved Jimmy, “Is it true you slept with all the girls in the science department?”

Tony laughed, “now where did you hear that? That’s horribly inaccurate! I slept with all the guys too!”

The young soldier laughed (Tony wasn’t lying, he wasn’t ashamed to admit he’d sleep with just about anyone, regardless of their gender, especially back in college) 

“Hey, Is it cool if I take a picture with you? I’ve got some friends from MIT, they’d think this was amazing!”

“Yes. It's very cool!” Grinned Tony a bit flattered as the soldier pulled out his camera, “Now I don't wanna see this up on your MySpace page!”

Jimmy threw up a peace sign and grinned.

“Please, no gang signs.” Joked Tony, Jimmy immediately put his hand down.

“No, throw it up. I'm kidding. Yeah, peace. I love peace. My dad would be out of a job with peace.” He muttered the last part under his breath. 

As soon as the shutter clicked, disaster struck. An explosion sounded in the vehicle in front of them. A gunshot was heard, Tony looked around in panic. 

“What’s going on?!” Cried Tony,

_“Jimmy! Stay with Stark and stay down!”_

Soldiers go out, and prepare to fight. One, two, three, they all get shot down. 

“Son of a bitch!” Yelled Jimmy running out into the raging battle.

“Wait, wait, wait! Give me a gun!” Cried Tony desperately.

“Stay here!”

And suddenly Jimmy was gone.

And he didn’t come back.

Tony ran out into the battle and hid for cover, taking out his phone he tried to call Rhodey. Without warning a bomb went off blowing him across the ground. The last thing he saw before going unconscious was his name, in big bold letters on the side of the offending weapon. Stark Industries.

_~Forget the hearse 'cause I never die I got nine lives~_


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony flits in and out of consciousness and relives the most important times of his life before waking up in an unfamiliar cave.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter contains mentions of Abuse, character death, blood and torture (waterboarding) so dark stuff. I'm very very new to this please don't judge my note skills comments are welcome and appreciated because ~growth~. I'm going to try and update every week enjoy!  
> Disclaimer: Big surprise i dont own the story and characters wow. if i worked for disney i'd make stucky canon and everything would be gay so

_~Cat's eyes Abusin' every one of them and running wild~_

He was falling, falling, falling and then…

He hit the ground.

_“Antonio, my little Antonio I’m so sorry I have to let you go.” His mother cried as she held him, he was only six years old, he didn’t understand._

_“We have to do it Maria,” Howard Said, his voice betrayed no emotion, “The boy never did us any good anyways.”_

_His mother screamed and cried, a man in a grey suit had to drag her to the next room, “you need to calm down Mrs. Stark, you aren’t feeling well.”_

_Tony vowed he’d never wear a suit like that._

He couldn’t feel a thing, only pain. Pain in his chest, pain everywhere, and there was someone doing something to him, _someone was touching his heart._

_“I’m James Rhodes! But you can call me Rhodey!” The young man had short dark curly hair and dark skin and he grinned widely at Tony._

_“I think I’ll call you platypus.”_

_“You sure as hell will_ **_not_ ** _.”_

He couldn’t breath, he couldn’t breath, he couldn’t breath-

_“Hello Anthony, my name is Ana and this is Mr. Jarvis, we're going to take care of you.” A soft looking red headed woman was looking at him with kind eyes, she spoke in some foreign accent._

_“Please,” he said through tears, “call me Tony.”_

A spark shot through him, electricity. He was back in the shop, he must be! Except the shock lasted longer than a failed experiment, it wouldn’t stop. _It wouldn’t stop-_

_“Aunt Peggy?”_

_“Yes Tony?” Said the British woman he’d come to think of as his family._

_“You work with dad don’t you? Why is he saying he’s going to send me away.”_

_“Oh Tony,” gasped Peggy, “where did you hear that?”_

_“I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to eavesdrop! I just overheard Father and Obie talking…”_

_“Tony, don’t apologize, please. They won’t send you away, I won’t let them.”_

_“Why do they want to, Peggy? Am I that bad? Is it because I’ll never be as good as captain America? I can try harder! I promise I can!”_

_“Anthony Edward Stark!” Said the older woman kneeling down to his level, “you are the bravest little boy I’ve ever had the pleasure of meeting, don’t you dare let anyone tell you different.”_

_Tony raised his tearful eyes and looked straight up at the woman before him._

_“Will you come visit me, when they send me away?”_

_Peggy sighed and hugged him close,_

_“Of course I will.”_

He was dizzy, he was so dizzy, the smell of blood filled his nostrils, his own blood, he thought before going out of consciousness once more.

_“I THOUGHT I TOLD YOU NOT TO DISTURB ME!” Howard’s breath smelled like alcohol as he struck his four year old son across the face._

**_'Cause I'm back_ **

_“I’m Pepper, I’m your barista, and you’re going to stop looking at my breasts and start ordering coffee or you're going to leave.”_

_The redhead looked at him unimpressed; her tone clearly stated she wasn’t interested._

_“Right!” He cleared his throat, “I’ll have an espresso, uh make It double.”_

**_Yes, I'm back_ **

_“Jarvis!” He cried out as the man entered their flat, “is there any news about Ana?”_

_He looked at the old man's face and he knew the answer, Ana was gone._

**_Well, I'm back, back_ **

_Peggy Carter entered his small apartment and looked him straight in the eye._

_“I’m afraid I have some bad news, your parents have passed.”_

_He looked right back at her and said “My parents passed when I was 19.”_

**_Yes, I'm back in black_ **

Tony wakes up in a cave. There’s a tube up his nose, an electromagnet in his chest and a strange man sitting next to him.

\---------

The first thing Tony does is rip out the tube which in retrospect may have not been the smartest idea. 

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you.” said the strange man before him. Tony slowly looked down at his chest, then to the car battery next to him then back at his chest. He was connected to it somehow. He tore the bandages off (once again not the smartest idea but he was kind of panicking ok!) and stared down into his chest. Right over his heart was a huge electromagnet connecting him to a car battery, _what the fuck have they done to me?_

_~Back in the back Of a Cadillac Number one with a bullet, I'm a power pack~_

“What the hell did you do to me?” asked Tony as he sat around the fire with his new companion.

“What did I do to you? What I did is to save your life. I removed all the shrapnel I could, but there's a lot left, and it's headed into your atrial septum.” the man said indignantly.

“What’s this?” Tony asked, designating his chest, even though he already had a fair idea.

“That is an electromagnet, hooked up to a car battery, and it's keeping the shrapnel from entering your heart.” the man said simply, as if Tony didnt have a fucking battery powering his body. 

“ _Mio Dio”_ Muttered Tony, that’s when he noticed the camera on the wall.

“That's right.” the man said humorlessly, “Smile.” He paused slightly, “I met your father once.” 

Tony turned abruptly causing pain to shoot down his abdomen, 

“How do you know who my father is?”

“You are not the son of Howard stark? You look quite alike, I merely assumed given the last name. If you are not his son, what could the ten rings possibly want with you?”

As if on cue, four men walked in with guns, Stark Industry guns.

“Those are Stark guns, how did you get those?” he asked to no avail, Tony had his differences with Stane and Stark Industries, but they’d never sell their weapons to these men, right?

One of the men started talking in Arabic as his new cave-mate translated. 

“He says, ‘Welcome, Tony Stark, son of Howard Stark.’”

“How the fuck does he know that? No one knows that!” yelled Tony, panic taking over. 

"He is honored. He has heard you are a prodigy. He wants you to build the missile. The Jericho missile.”

Tony looked straight at the four men.

_“Tell them I refuse.”_

  
  


_~Yes, I'm in a bang With a gang They've got to catch me if they want me to hang~_

Refusing might not have been the smartest idea either, he thought as the men pushed his head back into the tub of water. He spluttered and coughed as he tried his best not to lose consciousness. HIs mind was fuzzy, nothing made sense, he was powerless. A thought popped into his head pushing away everything else, demanding attention.

_If you let the electromagnet get to the water then it's over._

And then he was drowning and Pepper was screaming inside his mind and he passed out again.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading ily guys! I’m going try and update every week, thanks to @bisexual-swiftie on tumblr who helped me with the ideas and helped me revise and to all the poepl who corrected my thousands of speling mistakes im sorry im a dumbass  
> song used for the interlude things Back in Black by ACDC  
> Mio Dio means "my god" or something llike that in italian
> 
> Come yell with me on tumblr! (bruh how tf do you link things?? oh well for now until i figure out heres my tumblr: https://panpotterhead3000.tumblr.com/ ) and remember to ~eat the rich~


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With only a week to complete their task, Tony and Yinsen must work out an escape plan, but sacrifices must be made. (I know it's pretty much exactly like the movie right now but I promise it''ll get more interesting soon)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter contains some pretty big character death and stuff like explosions. I'm very very new to this please don't judge my note skills comments are welcome and appreciated because ~growth~. I'm going to try and update every week enjoy!  
> Disclaimer: Big surprise i dont own the story and characters wow. if i worked for disney i'd make stucky canon and everything would be gay so

They pulled the sac off his head and pushed him out into the open desert. The first thing Tony noticed was the weapons, hundreds of crates all with Stark printed on the front. He felt the bile rise to his throat and tried to steady himself. Suddenly the man from the cave was back by his side, Tony had to say he was kind of relieved to see a familiar face. 

“He says they have everything you need to build the Jericho missile. He wants you to make the list of materials.” Said the man, taking a pause to listen to the other man’s Arabic, “He says for you to start working immediately, and when you're done, he will set you free.”

“No, he won’t.” Sighed Tony, a grim expression on his face.

“No, won’t.” Muttered the man in confirmation as Tony shook hands with his captor.

_ ~'Cause I'm back on the track And I'm beatin' the flack~ _

Tony sat around the fire with his new companion deep in the cave where they were being held.

“I'm sure they're looking for you, Stark. But they will never find you in these mountains.” Said the man, breaking the silence.

Tony laughed without humour, “No ones looking for me.” The man continues to speak,

“Look, what you just saw, that is your legacy, Stark, in the hands of those murderers. Is that how you want to go out?”

Tony couldn’t help it, he blew up.

“THIS IS NOT MY LEGACY!” he yelled, startling the older man, “I may be the son of Howard Stark but these weapons have nothing to do with me.”

A beat of silence passed before the man spoke up again, 

“You cannot choose your legacy, Stark. These weapons still have your name on them, what are you going to do about it?”

The mechanic slumped down and sighed, 

“Why should I do anything? They're going to kill me, you, either way. And if they don't, I'll probably be dead in a week.”

The man looked at him strangely, 

“ _ Well, then, this is a very important week for you, isn't it? _ ”

_ ~Nobody's gonna get me on another rap So look at me now~ _

Tony had a plan. A risky one, sure, but a plan nonetheless. 

“If this is going to be my work station, I want it well-lit. I want these up. I need welding gear. I don't care if it's acetylene or propane. I need a soldering station. I need helmets. I'm gonna need goggles. I would like a smelting cup. I need two sets of precision tools.” Tony shouted out orders and then turned to the man (could he call him a friend?) who’d operated on him.

“You're going to help me.”

They worked together for hours, planning things out and Tony learned much more about his new companion. He learned his name was Yinsen, that he was from a small town named Gulmira. He also learned about his captors, a terrorist group that called themselves the ten rings. By the second day, the first part of his plan was finished.

“That doesn’t look like a Jericho missile.” Yinsen Pointed out, looking at the blueish orb before them.

“That’s because it’s not, it’s a miniature arc reactor it should keep the shrapnel out of my heart.”

“But what could it generate?”

“If my math is right, and it always is, three gigajoules per second.”

“That could run your heart for 50 lifetimes!” Said Yinsen, impressed.

“Yeah, or something big for 15 minutes. Now come on let me show you our ticket out of here.”

He walked over to the table and flattened out the layers of plans, pulling over a candle to show them at the right light, blueprints for an armor made entirely of metal were visible.

“Oh my.” said Yinsen, Tony agreed,  _ oh my _ .

_ ~I'm just makin' my play Don't try to push your luck, just get out of my way~ _

  
  


For the next few days all they did was work. They made sure to work one piece at a time to make sure the cameras wouldn’t pick up on what they were doing, and conversed along the way.

“So, do you have a family back home?” asked Tony as they discreetly worked on the faceplate.

“Yes, and I will see them when I leave here. And you, Stark?

“No.” said Tony simply, brushing the sweat off his forehead,

“No?” asked Yinsen, “I suspect you have more than you think.”

Tony grunted and looked back down at his work, “Believe me Yinsen, most people don’t want to have to deal with all this.” he said, gesturing himself. He thought of Rhodey, exasperated and tired all those times Tony forgot to show up or drank a bit too much, he thought of Pepper throwing him glares as she passed him his coffee roughly, her temper flaring at whatever dumb joke he’d made, he thought of Ana and Jarvis buried deep in the ground side by side, he thought of the young soldier, Jimmy, who’d died because of him, he thought of his aunt Peggy, gone away into care because she couldn’t even remember his name and he wondered if anyone missed him.

On the fourth day, the Ten Rings got impatient. They stormed into their makeshift mechanics shop and demanded that the missile be ready for the next day.

“I don't know if we’ll make it.” said Yinsen grimly that night, 

“We’ve got to.”

Yinsen helped Tony into the suit not long after, 

“ Okay? Can you move? Okay, say it again.”

“41 steps straight ahead. Then 16 steps, that's from the door, fork right, 33 steps, turn right.” repeated Tony for about the seventh time, that’s when they heard the voices, the men seemed to have come to check on them because they had stayed out of the view of the camera for too long. 

“We’ve got to do it now!” yelled Tony desperately, 

“Now?” 

“Yes! I’ll set off the diversion, Initialize the power sequence function 11.”

Yinsen worked hurriedly as Tony set of the explosive planted at the first door, there was no going back now.

Yinsen stared at their small computer as the progress bar inched slowly, 

“We need more time!” he said, “I’m going to buy us some time.” 

“Stick to the plan! Stick to the plan!” cried Tony, but he couldn’t stop him wearing his armor, and the doctor had already taken a gun and left.

The progress bar loads as Tony watches powerlessly as Yinsen shoots aimlessly, finally,  _ finally _ , the bar is loaded and the suit is powered, Tony runs out to join Yinsen. He runs and runs and finally he finds Yinsen, he’s lying on the ground, his eyes almost closed, a bullet wound in his chest.

“Yinsen!” cries Tony as he stares down at the man who saved his life.

“Stark,” Yinsen rasps out, “Watch out!” he shouts weakly as Tony moves out of a bullet just in time.

The mechanic opens his helmet and kneels down to Yinsen, trying to bring him back up.

“We got to go. Move for me, come on. We got a plan. We're gonna stick to it.” Nothing makes sense, this wasn't the plan, his face is wet, he realizes with a start that he's crying.

Yinsen’s eyes focus on a point just above Tony’s head, 

“This was always the plan, Stark.”

“Come on, you're gonna go see your family. Get up.” he tries to sound hopeful but even to his own ears it sounds like a lie.

“My family is dead. I'm going to see them now, Stark. It's okay. I want this. I want this.” says Yinsen, and the worst part is that Tony believes him.

“Thank you for saving me.” he says, no longer ashamed to cry.

Finally, Yinsen looks Tony in the eye, 

_ “This isn’t your legacy Stark. You can make your own. Don't waste it. Don't waste your life.” _

And just like that, Yinsen was gone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading ily guys! I’m going try and update every week, thanks to @bisexual-swiftie on tumblr who helped me with the ideas and helped me revise and to all the people who corrected my thousands of speling mistakes im sorry im a dumbass  
> song used for the interlude things Back in Black by ACDC
> 
> Come yell with me on tumblr! (bruh how tf do you link things?? oh well for now until i figure out heres my tumblr: https://panpotterhead3000.tumblr.com/ ) and remember to ~eat the rich~


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Flashback time, we see a bit of Rhodey and Tony's friendship at MIT and Tony finally gets out of that cave~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter containsa tiny bit of biphobia I guess?? also some references to Howard Stark being a shit father. I'm very very new to this please don't judge my note skills comments are welcome and appreciated because ~growth~. I'm going to try and update every week enjoy!  
> Disclaimer: Big surprise i dont own the story and characters wow. if i worked for disney i'd make stucky canon and everything would be gay so

One second he was on the floor next to Yinsen and the next a new emotion had taken over the grief; anger. He jumped to his feet and reinstalled the faceplate turning back to where his captors stood. Taken over by his grief and anger the arc reactor glowed blue in his chest as he blasted his way out of the cave without holding back. But the men didn't stop shooting at him, Pieces of the suit we're slowly falling apart, he wasn’t sure if he'd make it. He had to make his choice, it wasn’t supposed to come to this, but if he didn’t he was sure to lose the fight. Tony pressed a button on the far right of his suit, in one great bang the suit shot into their, landing and crashing far, far away from the Ten rings.

Tony landed in the middle of the desert, his throat was dry and his ankle was broken, in a completely wondrous stroke of luck, he saw a small medic plane circling above him, the mechanic threw up his hands in a peace sign and yelled for his life, that’s when he passed out.

The sounds of yelling, the smell of blood, medics, dirt, sand, water, and was that Rhodey?

_ Rhodey. _ He’d met Rhodey at MIT and they had instantly clicked, Rhodey made sure he wasn’t too much of a dumbass and Tony made sure Rhodey lived a little. They balanced eachother out. When Tony was alone and lost, when he’d just lost Jarvis and Ana and he resorted to sex and drink, James Rhodes had been the one to bring him back out. He remembered it clearly like it was yesterday, he’d been nursing a hangover and stuck in conversation with some annoying Architecture major...

_ “So Stark, I hear you’d fuck just about anyone.” said guy, was his name Warner? _

_ “The preferred term is Bisexual and I won’t fuck idiots so sorry but you’re off the table.” he’d responded tiredly head in his hands, Rhodey had walked in a few seconds later while Warner spluttered and coughed indignatedly.  _

_ “Hey Tones.” said The slightly older young man, ignoring Warner, “You’ve got mail.” _

_ “What?” he groaned, “Who’s writing to me? It’s not some stupid mix up with Antoni Stork across the hall again is it?” _

_ “No uh, actually, well I think we should talk about this outside.” he said, shooting a glance at Warner who was watching them curiously. As soon as they had packed up and left the room Rhodey showed him the letter, _

_ “Tony, it’s from howard stark.”  _ _   
_ _ Rhodey was one of the only people who knew of his heritage and he was the only one who never called Howard his father, it was a small gesture, but in made a heck of a lot of a difference, yet another thing Tony had never thanked him for. _

_ “What does that  _ [ coglione ](https://www.wordhippo.com/what-is/the-meaning-of/italian-word-coglione.html) _ want?” Muttered Tony snatching up the letter and turning it over. On the back was printed clear as day, ‘Howard Stark’.  _

_ Tony sunk onto the floor, _

_ “Who the fuck does he think he is? What the fuck? I don’t- I didn't-” _

_ “I know.” Said Rhodes quietly, coming down to sit next to Tony, _

_ “Read it for me?” said Tony after a beat,  _

_ “What?” _

_ “Read the letter, please? And then you can give it to me if you think I’m ready.” _

_ “But, are you sure?” asked Rhodey, taking the letter, “What if it’s private…” _

_ “What could that bastard possibly have to say to me? Just fucking read it will you?” _

_ Tony watched as his best friend slowly and carefully opened the letter, he watched as Rhodey’s eyes turned cold while he scanned the piece of paper, and he watched as he got up abruptly the letter crumpled in his hand. _

_ “That bad Platypus?” Tony tried to joke but it fell flat. _

_ “Your dad is a goddamn idiot.” said Rhodey, completely serious, Tony laughed out loud,  _

_ “I know he is!” he said, his laughs turning into sobs, “Why do I even fucking care what he thinks?” he whispered weakly, as Rhodey brought him into a hug, _

_ “Give me your lighter.” he said after a moment,  _

_ “What?!”  _

_ “Give me. Your fucking. Lighter.” he said again, _

_ “I quit last week!” Rhodes looked at him sternly and Tony fished out his lighter from his pocket reluctantly,  _

_ “What-” he asked and then watched as Rhodey lit the offending letter on fire. _

_ “Come on Tones, we’ve got to study for our test tomorrow and you are way too hungover.” He said without a second thought and helped Tony up, leaving the ashes behind them. Howard and Maria Stark died not six months later in a car crash.  _

_ Tony had never cared nor wanted to know what was in that letter, in fact he’d almost completely forgotten.  _

_ Until now, until today. Until he was on the verge of death somewhere in Afghanistan after seeing the very weapons his father had created in the hands of his captors.  _

_ Maybe he wouldn’t mind knowing after all.  _

_ That’s when he woke up. _

**_~_ ** [ **_Has he lost his mind? Can he see or is he blind?_ ** ](https://genius.com/Black-sabbath-iron-man-lyrics#note-2172416) **_~_ **

He opened his eyes abruptly, breathing harshly, he took in his surroundings. Tony’s eyes focused and unfocused before settling on the man before him,  _ Rhodey _ .

“J-rhodey” he slurred out slightly, making Rhodes laugh.

“Tony, oh dear lord, we were so fucking worried.” he said, voice thick with emotion, “How was the fun-vee? Next time you ride with me, ok?” Rhodey went in for a hug making Tony wince,

“Oh shit, sorry man.” he said, pulling back.

Suddenly, the last few days came back in a rush, making Tony shoot up and then fall back in pain.

“I’ve got to talk to Obie!” he said desperately, 

“Stane? What do you need to talk to him for?”

“It’s important, and I’ve got to make some other phone calls too, just give me the phone!”

“Ok, ok! Here's your phone.” said Rhodey, giving in.

Toy called the airport first, stupid fucking airline wouldn’t refund his ticket even though, _ I was fucking kidnapped Jennifer!  _ He sat for awhile, wondering who else he could call, before finally calling Obadiah. 

“Tony?” the man sounded surprised to hear from him, “I thought you’d been abducted! Are you back?”   
“Yeah, I escaped, and I need to talk to you.”

“Dear boy! I thought you said you didn’t want anything to do with me or my company!”

“This is important Obie.”   
“Fine, how about this, come to my office on Tuesday at 4, you’re still in.. Afghanistan was it? I’ll even pay for the plane ticket.” said the old man, an odd tremor to his voice, like he was nervous.

“Fine, I’ll see you then.” Said Tony, and then hung up. Quickly, he started to get out of the makeshift medic bed they had made for him and looked around for his clothes. Rhodey entered the room soon after.

“Oh hell no.” he said, when he saw that Tony was making an escape, “you're staying here at least another week!”

“I’ve got to catch a plane back to New York tomorrow!” Insisted Tony. Rhodey gave him a withering look, 

“Fine. do what you want Tones, but you're going to the hospital as soon as we get back and I’m coming with you.”

“Do you know how expensive that’s going to be? I’m not paying for them to tell me there’s nothing wrong with me.”

“Bedrest then! One week of bedrest, I will personally stalk your apartment to make sure you don’t cheat.” Tony sighed in resignation, 

“Ok, but first I’ve got to talk to Obadiah Stane.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading ily guys! I’m going try and update every week, thanks to @bisexual-swiftie on tumblr who helped me with the ideas and helped me revise and to all the poeple who corrected my thousands of speling mistakes im sorry im a dumbass  
> song used for the interlude things Iron Man by Black Sabbath  
> Coglione means like asshole in italian I think
> 
> Did I add "Warner from Architecture" for the sole purpose of confirming Tony's Bisexuality? definitely. 
> 
> Come yell with me on tumblr! (bruh how tf do you link things?? oh well for now until i figure out heres my tumblr: https://panpotterhead3000.tumblr.com/ ) and remember to ~eat the rich~


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony arrives home in desperate need of a cheeseburger and a talk with Obadiah Stane.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can’t really think of any warnings for this chapter tbh. I'm very very new to this please don't judge my note skills comments are welcome and appreciated because ~growth~. I'm going to try and update every week enjoy!  
> Disclaimer: Big surprise i dont own the story and characters wow. if i worked for disney i'd make stucky canon and everything would be gay so

They arrived back in New York at 11 pm, exhausted from the cramped flight. 

“God, I need a cheeseburger.” said Tony, Rhodey laughed tiredly, 

“I thought the first thing you were gonna do was talk to Stane?”

Tony waved him off, “Thats tomorrow. First, cheeseburgers.”

Rhodey sighed, “If I buy you a cheeseburger at,” he paused to check the time, “11:07 pm on a monday will you go home and sleep?”

“ ‘Course I will Platypus!”

~ _Can he walk at all Or if he moves will he fall?~_

Tony walks into the Stark Industries Office at 4:17 in a stained T-shirt and jeans because fuck it all. Obadiah looks him over disdainfully, 

“Would it kill you to wear a suit?” he asks, 

“Yup!” says Tony cheerfully, taking a seat in front of Stane.

“Now tell me my boy, what was so important that you had to come talk to me in person?”

“I need to talk to you about the future of this company.”

‘You mean _my_ company?” 

“I mean my fathers company,” said Tony, “Something happened out there in Afghanistan, something eye opening.”

“You were captured by some foreign Ruffians, I don’t see how that has anything to do with me!”

“Those _foriegn ruffians_ had your weapons, they had _Stark Industries_ weapons!”

“Look Tony, we sell the weapons, where they end up is beyond our control!” said Stane, getting worked up.

“Not if you stop selling them altogether!”

Obie looked at Tony incredulously, “You want… Stark Industries to stop making weapons?”

“Well...Yes! I saw young Americans killed by the very weapons S.I created to defend them and protect them. And I saw that this company had become part of a system that is comfortable with zero accountability.”

“Tony, My boy…” started Stane tiredly, “We are a _weapon manufacturer_! That’s what Stark Industries does! Do you know much we’d lose in the stocks?”

“Uh.. optimistically 40 points. But Obie there’s other ways-”

“40 points _minimum_. What else do you want us to make? Baby bottles?”

“I think you should look into arc reactor technology.” Said Tony, ignoring the other mans sarcasm.

“Arc reactors? that's a publicity stunt! Tony, come on. We built that thing to shut the hippies up.” Obie yelled, exasperated.

“It works!” he yelled back,

“Yeah, as a science project. The arc was never cost effective. We knew that before we built it. Arc reactor technology, that's a dead end, right?”

  
“Maybe.”

“Maybe? What’s that supposed to mean?” Tony met Obadiah’s eyes slowly pulled up his shirt revealing the orb in his chest. Obadiah stared in awe for a second before closing off his expression.

“Okay.”  
“Okay? It works Obie!”

“Look, Tony, I’ve known you since you were a little kid, and I’ve known your father even longer, and I care about you! But this is not your company, you’ve your choices and I’ve made mine-”

‘Choice?!” interrupted Tony, “My dad didn’t give me a choice when he left me for dead at 6 years old, he didn’t give me a choice when he wrote me off every single fucking document he could get his hands on! I’ve never made a choice in my whole entire life but my name’s on the side of this building, Stane, I can’t let this be my legacy!” By the time he was done Tony realized he’d stood up without noticing, he stopped and cleared his throat as Obie stared at him.

“Get out.” said Obie, “don’t come here and tell me how to run my business again. If you reconsider my offer about a job, then I’ll be here.”

Tony looked at Stane in betrayal before turning around and storming around, before he got to the door, however, he turned back to Obie.

“Oh by the way, I don't know how, or why, but those men in that cave knew who I was to Howard Stark, you wouldn’t want that to get out, you might want to look into it.”

~ _Is he alive or dead? Has he thoughts within his head?~_

He walked out of the building disgruntled, and started on his way down to the subway to get back to Queens, a few minutes into his angry walk he heard a familiar voice call his name. He turned around and his eyes focused on a yellow taxi driving slowly behind him, the man behind the wheel was Happy Hogan.

“Hey Tony! I heard you were back in town!” he yelled, pulling up next to him. Happy was an old friend of Tony’s they’d met when Happy’s cab had broken down near the shop, ever since Tony will fix up the car and in exchange Happy will give him a free ride every now and then.

“Well what’re you waiting for? Get in the damn car!” said Happy expectantly and Tony stumbled into the front seat.

“Where to boss?” 

Tony laughed, “You don’t work for me and bring me to the café will you? You know the one.”

“The one Pepper works at?” said Happy with ra sly look, 

“Yeah, yeah.” responded Tony with a glare.

They sat in silence for a bit before Happy spoke up.

“So, I heard you had quite a trip.”

“You could say that again.”

‘So, how’d you escape?” asked happy, 

“Wait, how’d you know about that?”

“It’s all over the news man!” said Happy, pulling out that mornings newspaper. Sure enough, on the front page was a blurry picture of him.

“The reporters will probably find you soon, they’ll wanna know how you got away, you shoud’ve died!”

“Wow, thanks.” said Tony dryly, still reading the article.

“You know that’s not what I meant,” brushed off Happy, “hey how about a good old american cheeseburger? I’d say you need one after that trip.”

“Great minds think alike! I got rhodey to buy me one last night.”

‘Bet he liked that.” said Happy, Tony made a noncommittal noise and they sat in comfortable silence the rest of the way.

_~We'll just pass him there Why should we even care?~_

Tony entered the small cafe slightly nervous, his eyes searched the room before landing on Pepper at the counter. She looked beautiful, not that he thought about her that way, or any way, she just looked objectively beautiful that's all! Her strawberry blonde hair was in a loose ponytail and she was talking with a stiff looking man in a suit. As Tony approached he heard a snippet of their conversation.

“Agent Phil Coulson, with the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division.” the man was saying, 

“That’s quite a mouthful.” responded Pepper tiredly,

“I know, were working on it. I’m here looking for a man named St-” Pepper turned slightly and spotted Tony, 

“Tony!” she gasped, cutting of the Coulson who looked slightly miffed but upon seeing Tony his eyes widened and he muttered something about coming back later before leaving his card.

The two hovered around each other a few moments before Tony spoke.  
“Your eyes are red.” he said, and internally winced at himself, “A few tears for your long-lost favorite customer?”

“Tears of joy,” said pepper smiling lightly, “Your responsible for at least half of my income.”

“Yeah vacations over,” said Tony with a grin, “I’ll have, uh…how many shots of espresso fit in a large cup?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apparently even though I’m trying to write this as pepperony I’m not actually good at romance and only at homoerotic bro-dudery so if you end up shipping tony and Rhodey by the end of this im so sort that wasn’t my intention, I promise I’m not trying to queerbait lol.
> 
> Thanks for reading ily guys! I’m going try and update every week, thanks to @bisexual-swiftie on tumblr who helped me with the ideas and helped me revise and to all the poeple who corrected my thousands of speling mistakes im sorry im a dumbass  
> song used for the interlude things Iron Man by Black Sabbath
> 
> Come yell with me on tumblr! (bruh how tf do you link things?? oh well for now until i figure out heres my tumblr: https://panpotterhead3000.tumblr.com/ ) and remember to ~eat the rich~

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading ily guys! I’m going try and update every week, thanks to @bisexual-swiftie on tumblr who helped me with the ideas and helped me revise and to all the poepl who corrected my thousands of speling mistakes im sorry im a dumbass  
> song used for the interlude things Back in Black by ACDC  
> fanculo apparently means fuck in italian but dont quote me on that idk  
> Come yell with me on tumblr! (bruh how tf do you link things?? oh well for now until i figure out heres my tumblr: https://panpotterhead3000.tumblr.com/ )


End file.
